Part 2Eligibility for crisis payment

Part 2—Eligibility for crisis payment

6 Meaning of contacted the Department—pt 2

(1) In this part, a person has contacted the Department if:

(a) the person, or someone else on the person’s behalf, contacted the Department; and

(b) the contact is about claiming a crisis payment; and

(c) the person is in Australia on the day the contact happens; and

(d) the person claims a crisis payment within 14 days after the day the contact happens; and

(e) the Department has a record of the contact.

(2) In this section:

contact includes contact by post, telephone, facsimile transmission or email.

7 Eligibility for crisis payment—release from gaol or psychiatric confinement

(1) A person is eligible for a crisis payment if:

(a) the person is released after spending at least 14 days in lawful custody; and

(b) the person contacts the Department or claims the crisis payment within 7 days after being released; and

(c) on the day on which the contact happens or the claim is lodged the person is:

(i) in severe financial hardship; and

(ii) a person who receives a pension entitlement.

8 Eligibility for crisis payment—extreme circumstances forcing departure from home

(1) A person is eligible for a crisis payment if:

(a) the person has left, or cannot return to, their home because of an extreme circumstance; and

(b) the extreme circumstance makes it unreasonable to expect the person to remain in, or return to, the home; and

(c) the person has established, or intends to establish, a new home; and

(d) the person was in Australia when the extreme circumstance happened; and

(e) the person contacts the Department, or claims the crisis payment, within 7 days after the extreme circumstance happened; and

(f) on the day on which the contact happens, or the claim is lodged, the person:

(i) is in severe financial hardship; and

(ii) has made a claim (whether on the same day or on an earlier day) for a pension entitlement and is eligible for the pension entitlement; and

(g) in the 12 months before the day on which the claim is made, not more than 3 crisis payments for which the person was eligible under this section or section 9 have been payable to the person.

Note Examples of extreme circumstances which would deem a person eligible for a crisis payment include situations where the person’s house is burnt down, or where the person is subjected to domestic or family violence.